1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extendable computer system, and more particularly, to an extendable computer system having an extended board and a motherboard aligned in the same plane.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The functionality of computer systems is constantly increasing along with its application fields. To take advantage of new functionalities, it is common to extend the functionality of the original specification of a computer system using a circuit board, such as an interface card, inserted perpendicularly into a standard communication interface slot of the motherboard of the computer system. Other methods in addition to the above-mentioned include replacing the motherboard of the computer system with another motherboard of a better specification or buying a new computer system altogether.
The three options listed above, however, are not without disadvantages for either the user or manufacturer. The first and third options are not that attractive for users. The third option of buying a new computer system obviously has an expense disadvantage while the first method of perpendicularly inserting the circuit board into the standard communication interface slot of the motherboard of the original computer system can be inconvenient for users especially in the area of server applications.
When extending the computer system of a server system, the exterior case in most cases needs to be replaced with a new one corresponding to the height of the perpendicularly inserted interface card, which increases the total height of the server system. In some cases, users who anticipate changes later may choose to install cases of large height to begin with so as to prevent the inconvenience of changing the cases. In addition to inefficient use of space, the addition of a card inserted perpendicularly occupies a slot on the motherboard, which could be used for other peripherals.
As a result, the second option of replacing the motherboard may prove to be the most attractive to a user. However, for manufacturers this can be a disadvantage. The motherboards that manufacturers produce fall into one of two categories: modified or newly designed. Modified motherboards are motherboards that are built by modifying designs of existing motherboards whereas new designed motherboards are motherboards that have been built from scratch. There is no disadvantage with the making of newly designed motherboards as manufactures will always be designing new boards.
However, certain segment of users who do not want to purchase a completely new motherboard. This segment, instead, wants an updated version of the motherboard they are currently using. In addition, this segment may also be unwilling to switch to something completely new and having to relearn everything.
However, the disadvantage of modification for manufacturers is as follows. When manufacturers elect to provide replacement motherboards with better specifications by modifying the design of an existing motherboard, they have to extend the size or increase the number of layers of the existing motherboard with the original specification. Modification also requires almost the same amount of effort as designing a new product during design and production phases, meaning that related design and production costs cannot be reduced. Furthermore, as requirement of the above-mentioned design modification comes, the uncertainty of whether or not the mass production of the motherboard with the original specification will continue according to the originally planned product cycle schedule increases.